All pictures made with my D2x - even with different lenses - don't seem to be sharp, even when using a tripod, lenses with VR, nothing helps.

1. Your shutter speed's too slow

Take the effective focal length of your lens and divide it into 1 to get the minimum safe handheld shutter speed you should use. For example, with a 200mm equivalent lens, you shouldn't shoot any slower than 1/200sec or you risk camera shake. You might even get some shake at 1/500sec.

2. You're placing too much trust in VR

Nikon's Vibration Reduction system can let you shoot with shutter speeds four stops slower than usual - but don't count on it. This is a best-case scenario, and it's wise to assume no more than two stops. VR improves your success rate, it doesn't guarantee sharpness.

3. Your subject is moving

Moving subjects will appear blurred at slow shutter speeds, so even if you can hold your camera steady and even if the VR system does a great job, you will still need to use fast shutter speeds for moving subjects.

4. The ISO is too high

Sometimes you have to use really high ISOs just to avoid camera shake, but be aware that at the highest settings you will see a loss of detail. The camera uses noise reduction processes to reduce the appearance of noise, and these erode fine detail too.

field myths

Depth of field is the zone of near-to-far sharpness within your pictures, but it's only apparent sharpness, not real sharpness. Depth of field relies on objects looking sharp enough at normal viewing distances and magnifications even though they're ever so slightly out of focus. If you zoom in far enough, you will see that some objects aren't completely sharp even when they're technically within the depth of field limits.

6. Your lens aperture is too small

Small apertures used to be associated with better image quality. That was when lenses were comparatively unsophisticated and cameras used larger formats, such as 35mm and 120 roll film. But at small apertures an unavoidable optical effect called 'diffraction' sets in, where fine detail starts to blur. With today's smaller sensors and sophisticated zoom lens designs, you can see this as early as f/11. If you shoot at f/16 or f/22, your shots will be visibly softer than those shot at wider apertures.

7. You're focused on the wrong thing

Watch the AF points in the camera's viewfinder. If you're using auto-area AF, the camera will pick the nearest subject, which may not be what you intended. If you're using single-point AF, make sure the AF point's over the correct part of the scene. Tip: on some cameras, including the D3100, it's very easy to accidentally push the AF point to the right with the base of your thumb as you hold the camera and not notice.

8. Handheld close-ups shots are risky!

When you're really close to your subject, the depth of field is so small that the slightest movement on your part will throw your subject out of focus. The more you concentrate on staying still, the more you sway! Higher shutter speeds won't make the slightest difference - you need a tripod.

9. Focus/recompose errors

It's often useful to focus on one thing then keep the shutter button half-pressed so that you can recompose the picture and shoot. But in that time, you may have moved, the subject may have moved or, if the camera's in its default AF-A mode, it make think the subject is moving, switch to AF-C (continuous) operation and attempt to re-focus.

10. Is your lens clean?

If you walk into a humid indoor environment, your lens may mist up, producing a blurry, soft-focus effect. Other causes of blur are greasy smears and fingermarks - so check the front of your lens before blaming the camera.

Not knowing exactly what coolpix you have, I only can give a general answer.
Be aware that most coolpix cameras with zoom have Vibration reduction. Always when you put a camera on a tripod, you should switch of the Vibration reduction. (even on the most expensive cameras or with a DSLR on its lenses)
Because when the vibration reduction is on, there is a part in the lens that is always moving and the movement will be guided in the correct direction when the detector senses a movement.
When you use a zoom lens it is wise to switch the vibration reduction on, as soon as you are taking pictures without tripod. It can compensate shake of the camera, so you can shoot with slower shutter speeds as without the reduction. But the pictures are never as sharp as shot from a tripod, without vibration reduction.

The Nikon Coolpix L810 is a great camera capable of taking very good and sharp pictures, even in bad light conditions. It has a Vibration reduction, that makes it even possible to shoot pictures without tripod when you zoom in very far. If normally with the same lens length you should need 1/200 of a second your camera should still be capable of taking that picture with only the same blur from shake, with 1/50 of a second. But if you ever should use a tripod. make sure you switch off that feature. Because the Vibration reduction, works with a staking lens element. that should compensate the movement of the camera, by shaking in the correct direction opposite to the movement of the camera. The element will still shake and so blur a picture, when the camera is placed on a tripod.
Don't try to shoot pictures with the zoom on full extension, in bad light conditions. That also won't work. Lots of things can be done with the camera, but to everything is a limit. Most of the time that limit comes sooner when there is less light.

There are several possible reasons for this.
You may be seeing haze. With such a long lens, you're often taking pictures of things very far away. In such cases you're going to get haze (smog, smoke, fog, and other stuff in the air). A UV filter can reduce the effect somewhat. To see if this is the cause, try taking some pictures of something closer (like the opposite end of your living room) and compare.
If the sun or other bright light source is shining onto the front of the lens, that will reduce contrast and produce a hazy look. Use your hand or a piece of black cardboard or something similar to shade the lens (being careful not to get the object into the picture). Take pictures away from the sun and toward it (not directly toward it, just in its general direction) and compare.
The lens may be dirty. Clean the front and back with lens tissue or a microfiber cloth. Don't take the lens apart to clean its innards unless you have a lens collimator and other gear needed to put it back together properly.
Even with a tripod and remote, you may be getting some camera shake. If your camera has a mirror lockup or exposure delay mode, use it to damp out the mirror slap. If your camera doesn't offer either of these, try using the self-timer.
Also, make sure your tripod is sturdy enough. It's a heavy lens, and even if your tripod holds it, it may not be holding it very steady. Try putting your camera on a tabletop and shoot something at the other end of the room and compare the results.

Have you set your camera to the correct auto-focus mode; AF-A, AF-S or AF-C?

Both have 70 mm as the widest angle of view, and up to 200 mm as telephoto, while one goes 50% further to 300 mm telephoto range. This means you can zoom in on objects further away than with the 200 mm lens. This is called the focal length of the lens.

The 200 mm offers VR II (second generation of Vibration Reduction) technology, which will allow shooting without a tripod in darker situations than without this technology. This can be a very handy feature if you are in low light situations and don't like to carry a tripod around.

Besides the focal length, a big part of a lens's cost and desirability is how "fast" it is. A lens that has an opening of "f2" is said to be "twice as fast" as one that is "f4". Another way to think of it is that it can allow twice the amount of light into the camera in the same amount of time that an f4 lens can. This means you can shoot in 1/60 sec at f2 as opposed to 1/30 sec at f4 to get the same amount of light in the image. If you don't have a tripod, and you're shooting at 70mm, 1/60 sec is the slowest you can shoot to get a non-blurred image (don't shoot slower than the inverse of the focal length: 70mm = 1/70 sec or 1/60 sec and when zoomed in 200 mm = 1/200 sec - or 1/250 on your camera) The more inexpensive wide angle zooms are often f4.5 - f5.6 and can run several or more hundred dollars. The f2 lenses cost several times more than the f4 - f5 counterparts. This is where the VR technology comes into play. This feature "freezes" the image to allow for an exposure that would be too blurry or otherwise not viewable. You can read a quick article about the differences between VR and VR II for Nikon lenses here. There are others to read, too - so read more than one for more than one opinion.

Another variable, is the coatings. Multi-coated lenses are generally more expensive than single or non coated lenses. Each coating reduces unwanted effects of stray light, etc. that can cause flares on images, etc. You can read more about coatings here.

There are other variables, but those are the main points. You'll have to weigh the differences between the lenses, your intended use for them and cost.

I hope this provided a good starting point for you and good luck!

It seems that you have either a faulty lens or one which is performing outside of the minimum quality standards. You have clearly done everything possible to try and eliminate all other causes. Looking at the firmware updates for your camera, none of them mention an issue involving your lens but you may wish to ensure that you have the latest firmware anyway.

All you can do is to contact Canon customer care to request that the lens is exchanged.

In short, no.

The two cameras may look similar and operate in a similar fashion, but your camera uses a 23.3mm x 15.5mm JFET sensor and the D2X uses a marginally larger 23.7mm x 15.7mm CMOS sensor, although both are considered to be APS-C sized sensors. The two technologies are incompatible. All of the image processing hardware is different as well.

If your camera works well then there's no need to upgrade anyway: four megapixels is more than sufficient for prints above A4 size and the sensor produces very little noise. Nobody other than professionals shooting for billboards needs 12.5MP and as higher MP counts = more noise, no professional would use C-size sensor anyway for that level of enlargement. The only advantage you'll gain with more MP is that you can crop the image down more and still retain acceptable quality, but to properly benefit from this you need to be using professional grade lenses and shooting on a rock solid tripod. The only reason that manufacturers produce ridiculously high MP count sensors is that the general buying public automatically think more = better.

If you love your camera then continue to use it: it was built to a very high standard and if serviced every now and then will continue to produce great images with little apparent noise even at higher ISO settings. The best way to invest in better photos is to improve your technique and also to use a good tripod or monopod whenever possible. Upgrade your lenses to the best ones which you can afford and you'll find that the will serve well on the next Nikon which you eventually buy.

Don't believe the hype: you have a great camera. Four megapixels on a C sized sensor will easily outperform more than double that number on a smaller sensor camera and will be less noisy than anything with more megapixels.

blurry pictures often comes from the slightest movement when the pictures is snapped.
Don;t know if that is your problem or not try a photo tripod and see if that helps or check your trouble shooting area of your amnual. if you don't have the manual go to this site for any type of manual::::
http://tv.manualsonline.com/search.html?q=vr+5940&submit.x=35&submit.y=14

This feature is not an "end-all" to using a tripod for those razor sharp images. The VR may buy you one or two stops of light max. This may be enough in a pinch but invest in a tripod (a good one) for razor sharpness!